[Phil №❶]

Wish my solar could go off grid at times.

[Dazzler]

Great post wabbit.. Enjoyed the little video  (awesome wind assisted throw..) 

Was also interesting about the bug in your printer (brave to disassemble it!) 

and.. I'm right into renewable energy (as are a few others on here)

Have 20 solar panels (only 190w ones) and solar hot water.. QUite keen to get an (Up to) 1KW wind turbine as well.. How is your Dad finding the turbine so far? Reliable and effective?

[PhireSideZA]

Great post wabbit.. Enjoyed the little video  (awesome wind assisted throw..) 

Was also interesting about the bug in your printer (brave to disassemble it!) 

and.. I'm right into renewable energy (as are a few others on here)

Have 20 solar panels (only 190w ones) and solar hot water.. QUite keen to get an (Up to) 1KW wind turbine as well.. How is your Dad finding the turbine so far? Reliable and effective?

Hey Dazz

Thanks for the feedback

I won't lie, printers aren't my favorite due to the amount of things that can go wrong. I would rather rebuild an engine than a printer due to the complexity!

That is a great start, solar is a lot less stressful maintenance-wise and they have a smaller overall footprint if you don't count the area they stand on (wind turbines knock bats and birds out of the sky, they whistle at high speeds, they are a bit unsightly, etc.)

We have had our fair share of problems with the wind turbine - they are guaranteed against lightning damage when installed properly but somehow our one got struck by lightning a year ago, so we had to have the turbine nacelle replaced which took a good few months. After they rebuilt it, we found that the control box had a blown resistor and we had to send that in as well for repair = another 6 months downtime

We actually got it up and running on Friday (I picked the repaired part up in PE before I left to go to the farm after work) and so far so good. So in summary, the solar is a lot more reliable than the turbine as well as being a fraction of the price. We first went with purely wind and then added solar afterwards when we realised that even though our wind was at 90% availability, the batteries were draining too much and to achieve a battery life of 15+ years it is recommended to not let the charge level drop below 85%. My father is planning on adding more solar at a later stage, but we do not really need it all that much as the weather patterns are pretty stable around here.

[Dazzler]

Thanks for the info.. 

Sounds like I probably should steer clear. We don't get much lightning but not probably as much wind as your dad gets either...

[meehalych]

- vacation is over I am back to the ramp
+ flying to Rome on 27 November till 30 Nov
+ flying to Hong-Kong on 14 February for Wing Chung training until 22 Feb.

[Asterix]

- One of the boys rang the other day telling me his car, a 1996 VW Polo couldn't turn the steering wheel anymore. He had topped up the power steering fluid the last couple of days, but now all the oil was on the ground under the car..

- I had to get the car home to repair it but didn't want to tow it with a rope @ 30 km/h for 25 km.

+ I rented a autotrailer. The i30 is a good towcar. 

- I now need to replace two hydraulic pipes at the steering house, not very easy to access. 

[PhireSideZA]

Good luck with the repairs Asterix!

Luckily the VW spares should be cheap and they are pretty reliable so it should be easy to fix. VW also has quite a few forums so the support from owners is immense

[Asterix]

Good luck with the repairs Asterix!

Luckily the VW spares should be cheap and they are pretty reliable so it should be easy to fix. VW also has quite a few forums so the support from owners is immense

Thanks.

I think I will manage. Did I ever mention I had my apprenticeship as a mechanic at a VW garage some 23 years ago... 

[PhireSideZA]

Good luck with the repairs Asterix!

Luckily the VW spares should be cheap and they are pretty reliable so it should be easy to fix. VW also has quite a few forums so the support from owners is immense

Thanks.

I think I will manage. Did I ever mention I had my apprenticeship as a mechanic at a VW garage some 23 years ago... 

Then you will have no problem

I had a VW Golf Mk. 1, best introduction to mechanics ever

Before I chose my i30 I was looking around at a VW Golf 4/5, but they seem to hold their value really really well here - for the price I paid for my i30, the best deal on a VW that I could get was a Golf 5 with nearly 300K km on the odo, circa 2005.

Needless to say, for the price, I thought an i30, circa 2011 with half the mileage was the better buy

[Dazzler]

Love the photo Henning.. You should email a copy to the head of VW! 

[Phil №❶]

+ flying to Hong-Kong on 14 February for Wing Chung training until 22 Feb.

Where is the Chung on a wing Misha, can't say I've ever heard of that. Must be some secret new Russian device. 

[neptune]

+ flying to Hong-Kong on 14 February for Wing Chung training until 22 Feb.

Where is the Chung on a wing Misha, can't say I've ever heard of that. Must be some secret new Russian device. 

I don't know of Wing Chung,....but Wing Chun was what Bruce Lee was taught and developed more into a complete fighting art. This same martial arts was taken one step further in the late nineties by a English fighter that won him many major titles

[PhireSideZA]

Wing Chun Wing Chung Wang Chung Hong Kong it all reminds me of this 80's hit

Wang Chung - Everybody Have Fun Tonight - YouTube

[meehalych]

+ flying to Hong-Kong on 14 February for Wing Chung training until 22 Feb.

Where is the Chung on a wing Misha, can't say I've ever heard of that. Must be some secret new Russian device. 

I don't know of Wing Chung,....but Wing Chun was what Bruce Lee was taught and developed more into a complete fighting art. This same martial arts was taken one step further in the late nineties by a English fighter that won him many major titles

Yep,  correct - Chun

[Dazzler]

+ flying to Hong-Kong on 14 February for Wing Chung training until 22 Feb.

Where is the Chung on a wing Misha, can't say I've ever heard of that. Must be some secret new Russian device. 

I don't know of Wing Chung,....but Wing Chun was what Bruce Lee was taught and developed more into a complete fighting art. This same martial arts was taken one step further in the late nineties by a English fighter that won him many major titles

Yep,  correct - Chun

So are you "kicking off" a world tour 

[Tourer_Guy]

I studied Wing Chun Kung Fu for a number of years, under an instructor who was taught in the same club as Bruce Lee in Hong Kong.

Now I do military style Tae Kwon Do.  The kicking is amazing but I always revert to the Kung Fu hands for close combat sparring.  I find martial arts intensely mentally relaxing (I have a fairly high stress job), and greatly enjoy my weekly training session.

[Phil №❶]

Mental note, "Don't upset Tourer_Guy"

[Tourer_Guy]

   I'm a pacifist.  I've never been in a fight in my adult life and am never planning to.  I don't watch cage fighting or even boxing.  I just like the training, and the flexibility and strength it builds.

[The Gonz]

The discipline and tranquillity of a physical routine is priceless.

[FatBoy]

I've won every fight I've been in by 10 metres.

[The Gonz]

I've won every fight I've been in by 10 metres.

[Phil №❶]

What he's doing ↑ 

[Dazzler]

I've won every fight I've been in by 10 metres.

[cruiserfied]

No ones ever tried to fight me outside of a BnS but that's just standard protocol. I just walk away.

[CraigB]

Last altercation I was involved in was in 2002 with one of our lovely local indigenous residents, bastard rammed my transit van with his purple valiant and when I opened the door to see what the hell had just happened he stabbed me with a Stanley knife

[The Gonz]

 

[Dazzler]

Last altercation I was involved in was in 2002 with one of our lovely local indigenous residents, bastard rammed my transit van with his purple valiant and when I opened the door to see what the hell had just happened he stabbed me with a Stanley knife

Did you cut up rough? 

[CraigB]

It wasn't to bad, he got me between the ribs upper chest... luckily Stanley knives don't have long blades otherwise it would have pierced a lung but a few stitches and a jab in the arm fixed it.

Self defence cant help when you don't see them coming but it did stop him from further onslaught.

[neptune]

I teach a special form of martial arts four days a week and it is not for everyone....I don't have belts but a grading system.....it is derived from a particular street form of fighting by an Englishman and he got banned in England from teaching it and then team up in America with an ex black ops marine and revised it more...... as I have been in martial arts all my life in some form or another, trying to find something that will suit modern day living and protection and my way of thinking. I went to America and lived for 3 1/2 yrs learning full time there methods before bringing it home. It definitely is not for everyone and I have a six month intro course to evaluate them before they are allowed to proceed......

[Johnno]

Last fight I got into was in my younger days and I didn't even throw a punch, when to the toilet for a slash stood there at the water trough having a pee and a big geezer walked in and I looked round to see who it was and the next thing he chinned me and I went down like a ton bricks and out for the count. Woke up with some of my mates looking down on me and the pub landlady and I still had my pecker hanging out

Turns out he's a copper and the father of a lad  who I gave a good pasting a few weeks earlier. Talk about being a mummy's boy he was about the same age of me, was about 23 yrs old  and he had to get his old man to do me over. Might of been different if I knew it was coming